


Genosha

by Blue_Hood



Series: Hell to Earth [3]
Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Battle, Brotherhood of Mutants (X-Men), Genocide, Genosha, Mutant Politics, Mutant Powers, Mutants, Soldiers, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26495212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: The infamous Battle of Genosha that changed everything for Quicksilver and the founding of the Sons of M
Series: Hell to Earth [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925050





	Genosha

The nation of Genosha portrayed itself as a haven for mutants, offering them freedom and a place to belong, restricting outside interference and keeping all who cross its borders within its borders. When humans began disappearing into the so-called Mutant Nation and negotiations failed to bring about their release, military forces were dispatched. Every once in a blue moon, Azazel and Emma Frost attempted to repair their relationship with the Brotherhood while remaining independent, primarily as a means of survival since their feud made them a much bigger target in the mutant underworld than they thought was reasonable. To quote Frost “I’ll admit that some hatred is justified but this is ridiculous.” As the issue of Genosha rose in importance amongst humans and mutants alike, Quicksilver was dispatched to talk to the former Brotherhood members.

“We need eyes in Genosha, Magneto suspects that what they’re offering mutants is the polar opposite of what our people are getting.”

“And what do we get in return for helping confirm your father’s suspicions?”

“Well, assuming he is correct, then there will be plenty of mutants to recruit from. We’re seeking a temporary alliance here, not a simple truce.” After a little more back and forth, Emma conceded the point and agreed to join forces with Magneto. Azazel scouted the place, taking pictures with the camera Quicksilver stole for him. He brought back evidence that mutants were being enslaved and outside militaries were moving in on the assumption that the mutants were the enemy. Quicksilver paid Charles Xavier a visit as a courtesy to inform the leader of the fledgling X-Men of the situation, in case they needed back-up.

Emma Frost and Azazel arranged for a large surplus of military armor and uniforms to be made then go missing, the Soviet expat commenting on wasteful capitalists. Although the Brotherhood had its own means of preparing its forces for war, the usefulness of the uniforms was not lost on Magneto who had the greenest of his soldiers wear and carry the surplus uniforms. Emma Frost wore one of the uniforms for practical purposes since she and Azazel had yet to uncover Magneto’s supplier. From a strategic standpoint, having Brotherhood members dressed like human soldiers would enable them to keep an eye on the military forces.

The Brotherhood arrived on Genosha just as the slaughter began. Quicksilver saw soldiers chasing mutants down a mine shaft and raced to intervene, shoving the soldiers against the wall of the mine before cutting off the mutants’ run. He stole a Swiss Army knife off a soldier and tapped one of the shock collars the mutants were wearing, “Can one of you free the others if I get this off you?”

At least one of them must have spoken English because a dark haired boy pointed at another mutant and Peter pried the collar off a boy with red hair. Once it was off, the other collars fell open and a girl caught the boy as he stumbled. They were all emaciated and Quicksilver could see the moment that fact registered with the soldiers. Unfortunately, the mine began to collapse immediately after that moment passed. Quicksilver put himself between the soldiers and the mutants. One of the soldiers, Altman said “We’re not gonna hurt them.”

“You have your orders, I have mine.”

Altman smiled and glanced at his fellows before turning back to Quicksilver, “I think I speak for everyone when I say, you get us out and we’ll follow your orders.”

Since time moved slow for Peter, he could think things through while appearing impulsive. He told Altman “Words are nice but actions mean more. Hand over your weapons and then maybe I’ll help you out of here.” Quicksilver passed the guns to the scared mutants, saying “Don’t shoot them, you’ll just make the tunnel collapse faster. Now, is there another way out of here?” The mutants led them down a tunnel that was in worse shape than the mine shaft yet still somehow stayed relatively stable until they got out. Once they were out, Quicksilver ran off to evacuate the mutants in the buildings above the tunnels that had now all collapsed before taking the mutants to the Brotherhood camp. He stopped in front of the soldiers “You promised to follow my orders. I need to know what your mission objective is.”

Since most of the soldiers were too scared to speak, Altman answered for them “We were told to extract some missing humans from the mutants. Clearly-”

“Prejudice was mistaken for intelligence.”

“Yeah.”

Quicksilver returned their guns “Kill a mutant and I will kill every last one of you human soldiers.”

“Understood.”

“Now, I’m gonna give you directions and you’re going to stop two blocks away from your destination and wait for me. I have to report back to Magneto so that my people don’t kill you before I’m gone with you.” He gave them directions then disappeared. Upon hearing his son’s report, Magneto authorized the speedster to continue working with the humans then ordered his people to focus their efforts on the Genoshans and ignore the human invaders unless they attack. Meeting with Altman’s eight man team, Quicksilver nodded to himself “We’re close to the welcome center,” he sneered at the name. “Since the attacks have been concentrated elsewhere, we’re going to take it and get those records your COs want so badly that they’re willing to commit genocide to get them.” He ran around the center before coming back to direct Altman and the others, handing them radios tuned to a secure frequency “Report in once you’re in position.” His plan pitted each of the eight humans against an equal number of Genoshans, the guards no doubt ready to destroy the records at the first sign of trouble. “Fire on my mark, your guns are fully loaded.” Quicksilver sped in and hid in a storage room near the main office. “Mark.” The gunfire was over as soon as it began, the soldiers planning their shots in the seconds that it took the speedster to get in. “Roll call, everyone dead?” Each of the soldiers confirmed their targets were dead. “Good, now hide the bodies and get at least one inside here each. We might need their uniforms if we’re gonna do more recon.” They rendezvoused ten minutes later in the lobby, Quicksilver handed each of them a slip of paper, “I copied down the intel your COs will want.”

“We’re all on one team.”

“I know, I saw the flag. You don’t want to lose the intel because some Genoshan gets a lucky shot in.”

“Right.” Following that logic, they hid the intel in different places in case of capture.

“Now, take me to your leader.”

“We’ll have to cuff you,” said one of the thus far silent soldiers, Shepherd.

“Do it. I mastered lock picking years ago.” They marched Quicksilver to their camp, the mutant smiling at every one of his passing brothers, and threw him down in front of their CO. “You need to withdraw before the Genoshans cut their losses.” Peter sat up with hands free, “You’re getting slaughtered out there, not unlike everyone who immigrated to Genosha.”

“Who do you think you are?”

“I think I’m the guy who got you this,” he waved a stack of papers, “The locations of every single human who chose to cross Genosha’s borders as of ten minutes before your attack. Y’know the Brotherhood won’t differentiate between Genoshan and American unless we work together, just like you don’t differentiate between victim and perpetrator when the former’s a mutant. I think I’m your best bet at survival or your worst enemy if you choose to treat me that way. I could help you win this battle or I could slaughter you all in under a minute, which is it gonna be? Think fast.”

The commander, Gyrich, decided “I don’t take orders from mutant freaks.”

“Who’s your second? Maybe they’ll have better self-preservation. Maybe they’ll actually care about the men dying out there who could be saved. Maybe they’ll actually be able to save,” he listed off a few of their human targets. “Mutants might still be useful to the Genoshans in the long run but humans, especially humans who have brought this much trouble down on Genosha, they’re nothing but a liability to be rid of. Make no mistake, I am not threatening you, merely stating facts. The fact is that Genoshans promised mutants paradise and gave my kind a holocaust instead, the fact is that Genoshans kill anyone they don’t deem useful and force the cooperation of everyone else. The fact is that the Genoshans are fanatics who would sooner wipe out their entire nation than give in to you. I am not asking you to let me take over, I am asking you to pool resources before there are none. I’m asking you to use that thing on your shoulders for more than spewing shit.” He slowly smiled “I guess I’m not asking you anything since I’m not a necromancer.” He killed Gyrich before the man could finish drawing his gun then went and rounded up all of the soldiers on the edge of the Brotherhood camp. “For those of you idiots who don’t know I’m Quicksilver and you’ve been sent here to die. I spoke with your commander, Gyrich, he tried to shoot me when I pointed out that you were losing. He would rather let you all die than, as he put it, take orders from mutant freaks. Genosha is in the process of systematically killing every single immigrant. They’re doing it systematically so they don’t lose any useful mutant slaves. I imagine the humans you were sent to target aren’t seen as very useful right now. Which is why I’m going to take you back to where I found you and you are going to run here under the guise of a tactical retreat. When I return you to your posts, I will grab all of the surviving Brotherhood members and then gather our combined dead. It will look like I took you to put you all in your place, anyone who does not beat a hasty retreat will be labeled an enemy and killed when I make my rounds. Am I understood?”

Everyone slowly nodded and he did as he said he would. Once the soldiers were all back, Quicksilver and a group of soldiers merged their camps. Mystique asked the soldiers “Which one of you is in charge?” They looked around, comparing rank insignias before one of the men raised their hand, “You and Altman, follow me.” They were taken to meet with Magneto’s inner circle. Once the camps were merged, Quicksilver made another run at the Genoshans, snatching the invaders’ targets to ensure their cooperation. Lastly, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch raided the collapsed buildings for resources, bringing them back to camp to be rationed out.

As predicted, the Genoshans stopped killing people when the soldiers and Brotherhood members retreated. Quicksilver made himself at home with Altman’s unit while they waited for their commanders to finish meeting. “You eat a lot for a little guy,” commented Kaplan.

“My powers need fuel,” explained the mutant simply.

The Battle of Genosha, as this conflict would come to be known, was not simply one battle but a series of hostile encounters that could have, or rather should have shaped mutant history for the better. Bradley, the leader of the American troops, chose to follow Magneto’s plan of attack. Under his command, the soldiers were only cleared to fire on human Genosha natives. Later, when the higher ups decided to make the battle a starting point in the human-mutant war, Bradley would say that Magneto forced his cooperation, losing most of the surviving soldiers.

For now, they took it day by day. Each day, Quicksilver joined different clusters of combatants, when they returned to camp. Victory was not measured in the lives lost or the ground won, victory was measured in survivors. They kept their camp fortified by not moving and they brought back as many people as they could, dead or alive. Some mutants were saved, many died alongside soldiers who had orders to kill them. In the end, after watching a woman he thought he loved die, Quicksilver raced through the island at over a hundred miles per hour and tapped the Genoshan soldiers. His speed made the slightest tap deadly while his sister pulled their people to safety. In the end, it was a slaughter, plain and simple. A speech Quicksilver made to the human soldiers in the wake of an earlier pyrrhic victory would go down in history as he declared himself the son of Magneto, of all mutants, the Son of M.

With their final victory, Magneto ordered his followers to search the wreckage, find the bodies of their brothers and sisters so that they might provide their fallen with a proper burial. Surprising many of their uneasy allies, Altman walked up to the mutant leader “We could help, if you let us.” His only answer was a nod and a dismissive gesture but Altman took that as permission given. Some survivors were back at camp, trying to save the lives of their injured while others transported more survivors to the field hospital. The rest dug through the rubble, following the leads of mutants such as Sabretooth to find the most bodies.

Later, when the Battle of Genosha was transformed from a historic example of interspecies cooperation to the start of mutually assured destruction, Altman and many others would leave the military and start their own unit. The Sons of M would dedicate themselves to setting the record straight, painting over graffiti mutant slurs with a stylized M based off of Magneto’s helmet. The Sons of M would be looked down upon and discriminated against as a hate group while they peacefully worked to counter anti-mutant hate groups. Many Sons of M would find themselves working with SHIELD and Nick Fury, many would find themselves targeted and their families would often pay the price. The Sons of M would become legend but before any of that, they were just a group of men lucky enough to meet the one, true Son of M in Hell on Earth.


End file.
